The Covenant of Water (Oprah’s Book Club)

Name: The Covenant of Water (Oprah’s Book Club)
Price: 9.02 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.6 (95747 reviews)
Author: Abraham Verghese

by Abraham Verghese

Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

4.6 (95,747)

4.6 stars from 95,747 reviews. One of the highest rated Historical Fiction books we track.

702 pages~11.7 hr readPublished by Grove Press

$9.0272% off peak

Last checked: Apr 15, 2026

Must ReadHighly rated with thousands of reviews. A proven favourite.

Price history: $5.24 – $32.00

Good deal — this is near the lowest price we've tracked.

Price range: $5.24 – $32.00

Buy on Amazon - $9.02

0 readers are tracking this book's price

Fans of these authors will like this...

Yaa Gyasi
Anthony Doerr
Hilary Mantel

Fans of these books will like this...

Homegoing
All the Light We Cannot See
Pachinko

Perfect for you if...

You love sweeping family epics that span decades and reveal how ordinary people navigate history and heartbreak.
You're drawn to literary fiction that balances emotional depth with genuine page-turning momentum.
You appreciate richly detailed settings that feel like a place you've actually lived in, even if it's somewhere you've never been.

Maybe not for you if...

You prefer plot-driven stories with clear resolutions over character studies that linger in ambiguity.
You find slower pacing or introspective passages tedious, especially in books over 600 pages.
You want contemporary settings and storylines rather than immersion in historical India.

About this book

Spanning 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water follows a family in southern India marked by a recurring tragedy: in each generation, at least one family member dies by drowning. The novel opens with a twelve-year-old girl, grieving her father's death, sent by boat to meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. This girl becomes Big Ammachi, the family's matriarch, and witnesses profound changes across her lifetime—both within her family and in the wider world. The narrative explores the joys and trials of love, the struggles of hardship, and the passage of time in a region where water is omnipresent. The novel traces the family's experiences through medical progress and social transformation, serving as a testament to the hardships endured by previous generations. Written with humor and emotional depth, the book presents a portrait of a historical India and examines human understanding across generations.

Get the best deal every time

We track price drops, sale patterns, and predict when this book will go on offer next.

Price History

Kindle price over time. Green zones = periods when the book was free.

$5.24 – $32.00

Currently on sale at $9.02 — 72% off peak. Price has dropped 4 times over the last 4 years. Goes on sale roughly every 103 days. Typically stays discounted for 986 days.

Sales Rank

Amazon sales rank: lower number = better selling book. #1 is the bestseller.

Currently #4,326 in the Kindle store — a top-10K bestseller.

Rating & Reviews

Purple line = star rating over time. Blue area = total review count growth.

Currently 4.6★ from 95,747 reviews

Gaining approximately 2,764 new reviews per month. Reader interest is surging. Rating has dipped slightly from 5.0 to 4.6.

Sale Prediction

Actual Predicted

This book is currently discounted at $9.02. It typically returns to around $32.00.

Prices shown in USD from Amazon US. We continuously pull new data to improve tracking. If dates look old, it usually means there has been no significant change since the last data point.